Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai signing $63M deal with Astros in MLB free…
The top Japanese starter is off the market.
Tatsuya Imai is signing with the Astros, according to The Post’s Jon Heyman.
It’s a three-year deal — with an opt-out after each season — that might be value as much as $63 million, according to The Athletic.
The Yankees have been among the groups to have curiosity in the righty fireballer.
Tatsuya Imai during an April 2025 game. Getty Images
Imai, 27, is the third high-profile Japanese starter to come back to MLB in as many years, becoming a member of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2023 offseason) and Roki Sasaki (2024).
Unlike that pair, who each signed with the Dodgers and have helped the team win back-to-back World Series, Imai needed to forge his personal path.
He had a 45-day window to signal with groups that would have expired Jan. 2.
Imai in March 2025. Getty Images
“I rather take (the Dodgers) down,” Imai said in an interview with Japanese media, per MLB.com.
“Of course, I’d enjoy playing alongside (Shohei) Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki,” Imai said, “but winning against a team like that and becoming a World Champion would be the most valuable thing in my life.”
Imai has an elite 99-mph fastball that he pairs with a slider, and he’s posted a 2.14 ERA spanning the last two years for the Seibu Lions of the Japan Pacific League.
He’s struck out more than a batter per innings in each of the last 4 seasons, including 187 punchouts over 173 1/3 innings in 2024 and 178 strikeouts spanning 163 2/3 innings last season.
Imai posted a 3.07 ERA in 187 games in Japan with 1,045 strikeouts in 1077 2/3 innings.
Those stats made him certainly one of the top free brokers in a category that lacked aces however included strong choices Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and Rangers Suarez, among others.
The Blue Jays signed Cease for $210 million over seven years in a surprising transfer following their sudden run to Game 7 of the World Series.
“You have a 27-year-old pitcher who throws 98, 99,” agent Scott Boras said about Imai during the winter conferences in Orlando. “Teams look at that and say, ‘Believe me, Imai wildest dreams I never expected someone to be available like that.”
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